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Abacus

Post 1

The H2G2 Editors

Hello Leo,

I read your entry, which I have to say I found very interesting and educational.

However, I'm afraid I don't have a great mathematical brain and my query may be a fairly daft one, but please bear with me - after all, you did describe subtraction on an abacus as the 'hard stuff'!

I can see the subtraction is correct, but I don't understand why!

For example, you say 'Then add 103 to your 55 to make 158'
Where does the 103 come from? And why do you have to subtract 14 from 158? And so on throughout the calculation. I just wondered if you might beable to provide a bit more explanation as to why you pick these numbers for the subtraction to work for the other non-mathematical members of the h2g2 community out there!

Cheers,

smiley - smiley


Abacus

Post 2

Leo


The only reason I chose those numbers was depending on what I was trying to show. IE: use one column with no carrying, one column with carrying, two columns no carrying, etc etc. In other words, I pulled the numbers out of the air, but there was method to the madness. Maybe mention that somewhere?
"To demonstrated blah de blah, subtract 103..." or "For example, suppose you suddenly felt the urge to subtract 103..."

smiley - smiley That better?


Abacus

Post 3

Leo


F1662671?thread=4321570

Just a quickie - where does your question come in relative to the thread above? smiley - smiley


Abacus

Post 4

The H2G2 Editors

Hello Leo,

I am afraid I can be numerically challenged at times and I think I was making your section on subtraction more complicated than it actually was, by stringing it all together into one big long calculation...which was why I couldn't understand why numbers seemed to be popping up at random within it!

Thanks very much for clearing that up. I am now much clearer about how an abacus works – just need to find one now to put my knowledge to use!

We are looking into ways of getting your photos onto your article, it would be very helpful to have them there alongside your descriptions.

smiley - biggrin


Abacus

Post 5

Leo

smiley - bigeyes Oooh... smiley - boing

smiley - giftsmiley - chocsmiley - giftsmiley - choc
smiley - spacesmiley - spacesmiley - spacesmiley - spacesmiley - spacesmiley - spacesmiley - biggrin


Abacus

Post 6

Leo



The joy was not because of your numbers confusion, it was because of getting the pics in. smiley - biggrin


Abacus

Post 7

The H2G2 Editors

Don't worry - I knew what you meant!
smiley - winkeye


Abacus

Post 8

The H2G2 Editors

We are looking at ways of getting your photos in - it's not definite yet, but we are working on it!


Abacus

Post 9

Leo


Yes, I knew what you meant. smiley - gift and smiley - choc are bribes.

It's been done in other entries - why is it considered so complex?


Abacus

Post 10

The H2G2 Editors

Hello Leo,

I am pleased to say the abacus photos are going into your article!

It's not that it's considered complex to add pictures, we tend to judge requests on a case by case basis. Adding pictures is time consuming, and we just don't have the resources to add them to every article. We don't want Researchers to rely on pictures in their entries - when h2g2 is accessed via a mobile for example, you can't see the pictures, so it is very important that the entry makes sense without illustration (which yours does.)

In this case, we thought the pictures added a bit of extra clarity.

Congratulations on making me understand how to add and subtract on an abacus - looking forward to reading your forthcoming article on division and multiplication!

smiley - cheers



Abacus

Post 11

Leo


smiley - biggrin I thought so too!

Yay!

Um, division and multiplication? So, you pull out your scientific calculator and... smiley - lurk


Abacus

Post 12

The Apprentice

Pretty blobs! Yay!

The Apprentice


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